Full Moon, Samhain Memories and the Sun Rising

The other night I walked outside and the glow from the moon behind the clouds was stark white, whiter than white, white as ice. This weather of bitter cold, alternating with warm rain and then winds and then the freezing sleet that took down many power lines is maybe a last trick of the season as we head into deep winter.
Our Samhain gathering was beautiful and cold. Bryan had created a huge pyre at the 5 circle fire and surrounded it with the last apples from our trees. As I look at the pictures now I am struck by the vibrant color- the yellows and oranges, a bit of green and many shades of brown or brown/orange. I am moved by the dance of the dead limbs and leaves. Now there is grey and brown/grey and no leaves at all.

We ringed the big circle with candles, there were candles in the 3 parts of the Nematon, Bryan carved amazing pumpkins for sacrifice, and I gathered things that would burn -leftovers from the garden, fully harvested by this holiday’s end.

The moon was a sliver. We’d of course been leaving out dumb suppers for days. The spirits were about. And the cold and wind were so deep; we decided to do ritual at the small fire circle-we struggled to make a fire in the pit near the house, and Elizabeth showed up and brought the fire to life. We toasted our new (Our Whole) Protogrove and us as a group and toasted ourselves and the year.

Aunt Lisa came and Susan called and we just stayed warm and ate Elizabeth’s food and waited until dark. And then Gwen and Susan arrived and we got it together and bundled up and started.

I remember we talked a lot before the holiday of the exhalation and our meditations reflected this- the sigh, the cackle, the wind.

We didn’t offer votes, just truth, and flame and sacrifice and prayers.

And gratitude as the flames leapt from and through and around the pumpkin. Consuming our harvest, ending the year, clearing the way for the empty dark- this time of going within, renewal and preparation.

Our Omens for the season were:
From the Ancestors: Oss/Ansuz or Voice-
From the Spirits of Nature & Place: Perth or the Chance, the Lottery Cup the dice cup
From the Gods & Goddesses: Mannuz- the self
For the Season: Sowilo or the Sun

So there you have it. Was it all true?
I know I have needed to breathe and especially exhale these last weeks. Sometimes it seems hard to catch my breath, not like I am out of breath but that there has been so much to breathe in.


A blanket of white covers everything. It is cold. Suddenly complete winter. But the light soon returns.